As the decline of newspapers is felt throughout the country, could community media & technology centers be the new model for local news? Could Citizen Journalism be an opportunity for community media centers like PEGs to earn income, create trained citizen reporters, build partnerships, and serve up local content?

PITTSBURGH, Penn. -- Cable public-access station operators were given a strong dose of media policy on Thursday at their annual convention as a Washington, D.C. think-tank leader urged them to join an "urber" political battle playing out among telecommunications companies, regulators and public advocates.

In the San Francisco Bay Guardian, Camille T. Taiara writes about Comcast's relationship with San Francisco. Comcast's dominance in San Francisco as a cable provider began in 2002, and since then, city residents have seen significant increases in their cable cost. Also, Comcast controls a great deal of the content that travels through their cables, and "some disturbing practices by the company, including depressed wages and a variety of union-busting tactics" were uncovered in a study by American Rights at Work. [ Visit Website ]

Comcast is the nation's largest cable company with over 21 million subscribers, and controls 70 percent of the nation's top 20 markets. However, it is also said to have the worst customer satisfaction rating of any company or government agency in the country, including the IRS. Read Camille Taiara's report on how favorable FCC policies have nearly granted Comcast a monopoly in many of the countries top markets despite poor customer satisfaction rates, and other complaints: